You've Got Mail!

Postal companies take center stage during the holiday season. Workers at UPS, FedEx, and the United States Postal Service (USPS) are hard at work moving holiday cards, presents, and all-important letters to Santa around the country—and the world.

The USPS is based on a system that dates back to the 18th century. Benjamin Franklin came up with a relay system using wagons and horses to deliver mail between colonies. He was eventually able to cut delivery times down from months to only a few weeks.

William Goddard, who set up the Constitutional Post in 1774, relied on Franklin’s relay system. The Constitutional Post carried messages between colonists, and military officials used it during the Revolutionary War. At the Second Continental Congress in 1775, the postal service became official, with Franklin as the first Postmaster General. The old Post Office became the USPS in 1971. More than 200 years later, the USPS’s network stretches across all 50 states and beyond, to U.S. territories and military bases abroad.

Although letter writing has declined with the rise of email, the internet has created a boom in another delivery department: packages. Online stores rely on postal companies to carry packages to eager customers. This is especially true during the holidays, when many families buy their gifts online. It’s a good thing the USPS—and other delivery companies—hire thousands of seasonal employees to keep the mail running on time!